Accra– As Ghana joins the world to mark this year’s World Consumer Rights Day, calls have been made for the country to quickly have the Consumer Protection Bill passed into law.
Some stakeholders who spoke to the Ghana News Agency, underscored the need for the bill to be passed now for a common reference point in protecting the rights of consumers.
They described as worrying, the absence of a law to promote and protect the rights of consumers in the country, 65 years after gaining independence, with nearly three decades of constitutional democracy and having a free-market.
Mr Kofi Kapito, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA), noted that in an era of digitalisation, it had become more necessary for Parliament to demonstrate its commitment to addressing the plight of consumers.
He said one important issue that the Bill would address was the right that empowered customers for redress, including compensation in the form of money or replacement of goods or repair of defects in goods.
He observed that though there were some forms of consumer protection in institutions like the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Ghana Standard Authority (GSA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the various Assemblies, the non-existence of a proper legislation made consumers vulnerable to the market.
Mr Kapito said that was not good for a country practicing free market [where buyers and sellers negotiate open without market coercions], where the most important person was the consumer.
He, therefore, called on Parliament, to as a matter of urgency, have the Bill passed, and urged the citizenry to support various consumer rights movements to exert more pressure on Parliament to ensure that protection was not only for sellers but buyers too.
Mr Kenethn Ashigbey, the CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, said: “We have a lot of laws that are scattered; we don’t have one consumer rights law, and that’s one thing that we wish it gets done at this particular point in time.”
He said: “It is our legislatures who would bring all these laws together to be able to consolidate the law and get a body responsible for it rather than moving it among various regulators.”
He noted that: “Once you have the law in place, then even in terms of wanting to read about it, it makes it easier. It also makes it easier for those in the judicial system because when issues come up, they’ll be able to know that this is the law that we’re dealing with.”
Mr Ashigbey emphasised that: “In terms of advocacy it will make it easier for and also help in making sure that consumers knew what their rights and responsibilities are.”
The World Consumer Rights Day is observed annually on March 15 across the globe to create awareness about the power of consumers and their rights for a fair, safe and sustainable marketplace for everyone.
It was President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s special message on March 15, 1962, which addressed the issue of consumer rights to the US Congress that inspired the idea of World Consumer Rights Day.
This year’s Day was observed on the theme: “Fair Digital Finance,” with numerous campaigns and actions to effect change in Government policy in favour of consumers, as well as corporate behaviour toward customers.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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